Snyder: Efforts to stop opioid abuse aren’t working as hoped

Governor Rick Snyder says more needs to be done to curb the abuse of opioids and heroin in Michigan.
Governor Snyder says efforts to date have not succeeded in substantially containing the epidemic of opioid abuse.

“Far too many lives have been either lost, damaged, injured in some fashion because of these drugs, and we need to do more in our state.”

The governor says two thousand people a year in Michigan die from opioid or heroin overdoses.

A new computerized prescription system will launch in April to keep track of opioid use. Bills going before the Legislature would put new limits on opioid prescriptions, require opioid and addiction education in classrooms, and make it easier for pharmacists to refuse to fill a prescription.